Merchandise has been a giant part of Star Wars since the very beginning, so it's no surprise that Episode VIII will be getting its fair share of toys. And in announcing their next Force Friday event, Lucasfilm previewed some box art showing the first Last Jedi designs for Rey, Finn and Poe Dameron.

No actual toys have been revealed yet (more on that in a bit) but Rey looks much more like a Jedi now than she did in the last film:

Lucasfilm

Rey is front and center here, with a new haircut and the blue lightsaber used by Luke and Anakin in previous trilogies. This is a step up from most of the Force Awakens merchandise, which often downplayed Rey and gave the lightsaber to Finn. It was presumably to keep Rey's Force powers a surprise in the movie, but cutting her from the first line of toys entirely was a shoddy way to treat the film's heroine, and it's good to see one of the "last Jedi" getting the spotlight she deserves.

Finn looks mostly the same, as that's definitely the top half of his buddy Poe's jacket, and it's hard to tell how different Poe looks under his helmet. But considering how badly Finn was doing at the end of The Force Awakens (lightsaber slashes like the one he took could be deadly in other Star Wars films), it looks like he'll be back to normal when The Last Jedi rolls around.

The image itself is a promotion for this year's "Force Friday" from Lucasfilm, a "global fan event" on September 1 that marks the official release of The Last Jedi toys, collectibles, clothing, etc. So if you still put some money aside for Star Wars stuff every now and then, keep an eye out come September, because all the products will be under wraps until midnight during the event. Lucasfilm did something similar with their first Force Friday in 2015, when all the Force Awakens products went up on sale around the world.

Disney Consumer Products chairman Jimmy Pitaro said this of the toy launch:

"The first Star Wars Force Friday event was truly unique, uniting fans across five continents in an unprecedented global live unboxing event ahead of thousands of midnight openings at retail. We're excited to confirm that Star Wars Force Friday is back for The Last Jedi. Plans for this year's worldwide event are top secret, but expect something befitting the excitement around the next episode of the Star Wars saga."

And as for the actual movie which the toys are promoting, Star Wars: The Last Jedi comes out December 15, 2017.